Wednesday, December 17, 2008

D of the week...(Made-0ff) if you are into phoenetics

(Reuters) - Bernard Madoff, the longtime Wall Street executive, is accused of cheating investors worldwide out of $50 billion.Here are some of Madoff's public comments over the years:- On his trading approach: "It's a proprietary strategy. I can't go into it in great detail." - Barron's, May 7, 2001- Speaking on a panel called "The Future of the Stock Market" at the Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of the Imagination in New York on Oct 20, 2007, Madoff said:- On regulations: "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules ... but it's impossible for a violation to go undetected, certainly not for a considerable period of time."- On the dynamics between investors and Wall Street firms: "The nature of any human being, certainly anyone on Wall Street, is 'the better deal you give the customer, the worse deal it is for you.'"- On the subject of large swings in the market: "Take my word for it, for the most part you can ignore those moves."- On the costs of regulatory compliance: "No one is going to run a benefit for Wall Street."Here are some other quotes from Madoff, cited in various publications:- On electronic trading: "All we're doing is passing our savings on to our client base."- Fortune Magazine, Nov 19, 1990.- On a canceled crab race at the Securities Industry Association Convention in Boca Raton, Fla.: "There's enough happening in the securities industry without taking on animal rights."- Wall Street Journal, Dec 2, 1994.- On day-trading: "If the bull peters out, day-trading will die of its own weight."- Forbes, April 6, 1998.- On the dangers of the Internet bubble: "I don't like to see this type of activity. Eventually, if this bubble bursts, I think that people will be left holding the bag. I don't want to be around when that happens."